Bike Carrier For Prius

November 29, 2009

Apologies PMF - stole this from your thread on Fog lights to start it as a thread in its own right.

http://www.towequipe.co.uk/1/1/7147-toyota...iring-loom.html

I, like PMF , don't want bikes on the roof, strap on carriers etc. The towequipe one looks good and I am tempted to go for it, but not sure about wiring-in the lighting loom myself. So, looking forsomeone else to confirm they have done it sucessfully, as I am happy to do the mechanicals but not so sure about the electricals being "plumbed in".

January 8, 2010

Apologies PMF - stole this from your thread on Fog lights to start it as a thread in its own right.
http://www.towequipe.co.uk/1/1/7147-toyota...iring-loom.html
I, like PMF , don't want bikes on the roof, strap on carriers etc. The towequipe one looks good and I am tempted to go for it, but not sure about wiring-in the lighting loom myself. So, looking forsomeone else to confirm they have done it sucessfully, as I am happy to do the mechanicals but not so sure about the electricals being "plumbed in".

This carrier looks great, did you manage to find any more info?

Do you need a light board anyway? I have been driving for two years without one using a Saris bones carrier on my old car.

I would like something like the towequipe carrier as its not touching the body or glass at all.

January 11, 2010

Hi JP.

The Prius is not permitted, by law, to tow anything. As such it is not fitted with the electrical looms for wiring up an external lighting board and number plate.

That effectively rules out having a low-level rear-mounted bike carrier, since you must not obscure the number plate. The one from Towequip which you've highlighted would be illegal unless an auxiliary number plate were mounted to the rear of it and fully lit. I observe that it's also fitted to a Gen2 Prius, do they have one for the Gen3 or Gen1, if that's what you have?

That leaves the options of a high-mounted carrier or a roof carrier. If you've got the Gen3 T-Spirit with the solar roof then you cannot roofmount anything there either. :(

Connoleg; The law is clear. If you have anything mounted to the rear of your vehicle which partly or fully obscures the number plate then you must have an external version of that fitted and lit. I might chance it to pop 10 miles up the road and get into the Peaks once in a while. But for longer distances, or for use abroad, it's the high-level carrier for me (I'm getting the solar roofed TS next week). I don't like it particularly. My previous cars (Vaux Omega and Volvo S80) both had rooftop carriers with spring/hydraulic assist to get the bikes up there. Lifting bikes onto a high-level carrier is a pain, but I don't have much choice.

There was a thread last autumn about some bike carrier mountable on a towhitch importable from the States? Basically it was the hitch that you bought, then you can mount any hitchmount carrier onto it. The Prius Gen3 does have holes for fitting this particular hitch to, or more precisely they've manufactured the hitch to mate up with some existing holes under the rear. So you can low mount onto that. But it doesn't get around the problem of the ancilliary plate and lightboard. Nor can anyone venture a thought about the likely implications of fitting a towhitch onto a car which is expressly forbidden from towing. It might invalidate the warranty, should you have a problem. And you'd need to tell your insurers about your modifications.